All five New York starters hit double figures, led by 30 points from Karl-Anthony Towns, as the visiting Knicks shot lights-out on Saturday afternoon to rout the Atlanta Hawks 121-105.
Josh Hart finished a rebound shy of a triple-double for the Knicks with 16 points and 11 assists. OG Anunoby scored 24 points and Mikal Bridges added 20.
Trae Young had 16 points and nine assists for the Hawks, who had six players in double figures. Terance Mann and Caris LeVert each scored 14 off the bench.
The win keeps the Knicks (49-28), who have won four of their last five, locked as the third seed in the Eastern Conference, three games ahead of the Indiana Pacers. The Hawks (36-41), who have lost five of their last six, fell 1 1/2 games behind the idle Orlando Magic for the seventh spot.
The Knicks set a season high with 78 first-half points, shooting 68.8 percent (11 of 16) from 3-point range and 67.4 percent (29 of 43) from the floor in the half.
For the game, New York shot 53.6 percent (45 of 84) from the floor and 51.7 percent (15 of 29) from beyond the arc, while the Hawks finished at 46.6 percent (41 of 88) from the floor and 31.1 percent (14 of 45) from 3-point range.
Towns got the Knicks’ offense rolling with a straight-on three, then Hart completed classic three-point play in the first quarter as New York took a 19-14 lead. New York went up 12 on a pair of free throws by Anunoby, but Atlanta closed the first half with a 7-2 run and trailed 38-31 after one.
In the second quarter, Towns appeared to jam a finger on his left hand and missed two minutes while getting it taped. Other than that, it was a nearly flawless 12 minutes for the Knicks as every shot they tried seemed to swish.
The Knicks went on a game-changing 15-0 run, with Cameron Payne starting things off with a three and Bridges and Anunoby knocking down threes to push the lead to 66-41 with 3:44 left in the half. The lead ballooned to 31 in the first half and was as much as 34 in the second. New York led 78-53 at the break.
New York is still not at full strength, but before the game coach Tom Thibodeau said that star guard Jalen Brunson was “very close” to returning and there were multiple media reports that he would play in Sunday’s home game against the Phoenix Suns. He’s 14 games due to a sprained right ankle.
Hawks star defender Dyson Daniels had two more steals, giving him a league-leading 219 for the season, the most for any NBA player since Allen Iverson had 225 in 2002-03.
